Cellio – Low Hanging IIoT Fruit

Pragmatically speaking, successful innovation, evolution, and technology adoption have focused in areas where the benefit is at least an order of magnitude greater than the cost – in technology this is equivalent to a “slam dunk”. From the business perspective the classic 2×2 grid of value versus cost is usually consulted as a tool to map out and compare options and courses of action. Let’s explore, at a high level, how Cellio helps organizations access the most desirable quadrant on the value map.

Value/Benefit is both Direct and Indirect

We find that many of our customers have a number of business pressures to move from a manual process of data collection to a more automated approach. The obvious solution is an inexpensive wireless solution that doesn’t require running cables or wires (which can be quite costly and subject to damage by rodents, equipment and regular wear and tear). From wireless edge devices, data can be gathered at a frequency that satisfies the needs of individuals and process inputs that will keep them informed of either the actual measurements and generate alerts to situations of concern that need attention to avoid critical errors – in this way, the data appears “real time” to the users. Some of the indirect benefits include reducing or eliminating risky measurement or monitoring situations that put workers in harms way. Additionally, workers have been known to get distracted or prioritize other activities over the measuring activities leaving the downstream data users questioning the status and accuracy of reports of the upstream inventories, levels, status, etc. Thus, the consistency, regularity, and automated data provided by the wireless data logging, monitoring and reporting can provide data in a timely manner on which people and processes can depend and make informed decisions.

Costs/Effort need to Account for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The analyses our customers have run on costs consider items that include lost efficiencies, overtime pay, time spent from non-core activities, missed information from inconsistent measurements (resulting in critical situations that require remediation), potential risks to people and equipment, equipment maintenance, and other factors. These factors are then added to estimates for expected gains in productivity, purchasing optimization, logistics efficiencies, and consistency of data for future analytics. In comparison, the cost of the devices and sensors is relatively low, as are the minimal amounts of maintenance of the installed devices, and the low annual data related fees for transmission and storage.

Cellio Delivers on Low-Cost/Effort and High-Value/Benefit

The relative ease, affordable pricing, and ability to deliver a full Cellio IIoT deployment in a very short period of time (including data connections, data storage, dashboarding, native mobile app access, customized alerts/notifications, and connections to enterprise systems) squarely places Cellio in the upper right quadrant of the Cost/Value chart.

Bonus: Cellio LoRa

One of the aspects of the Cellio system that enables the system to deliver significant value for the cost can be found in the use of LoRa for extending the range from Edge devices (Transceivers) to the Gateway devices. This ability to place as many Transceivers as desired in an area and have them all report back through a single Gateway drives the costs out of the edge devices and assures that the overall solution is as affordable as possible. Additionally, factoring in the small battery usage of the LoRa edge devices (a 9VDC battery can last for 5+ years without having to be replaced) and system-wide installation, maintenance, and dependability are greatly enhanced.

Conclusion

The Cellio Wireless Network has been designed to be quick, affordable, and high quality. Cellio Wireless Transceivers allow the Cellio system and customers to quickly and easily deploy and expand existing systems with as many sensors and controllers as they like (with minimal incremental expense). The data collected in the back-end data system can be easily and rapidly mapped and provided for view on PC’s, tablets, smartphones, etc. both via browser views as well as automatically generated native mobile app views. Sharing and modifying the dashboard views is quick and easy. All of this is available today. There is a saying that you should “Inspect what you expect”. Cellio has been designed to shift the equation to more heavily favor value over costs. From the design of the devices to consume as little power as possible, transmit only the desired data, drive down associated transmission costs and battery consumption, and deliver a whole solution that consistently provides successfully deployed systems from end-to-end in as little time as possible, Cellio delivers.